


An Adventure for Two

by IceSapphireSerpent



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Adoption, Drabble Collection, Dragons, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, Lots of Proverbs, Monks, So Ander can quote them later and annoy his friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-10 11:46:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12911271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceSapphireSerpent/pseuds/IceSapphireSerpent
Summary: Shin, Bai is a monk who has spent her past years living alone and tending to her monastery on Dragon's Hold Mountain. However, her path is changed when a woman she had saved before comes to offer Shin her child.Collection of short drabbles around a tiny disciple and his master becoming family and learning to live in a completely new way together. I'm writing this because I need to learn how to write shorter things, and I love these two too much not to write about them.





	1. Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Shin uses She/They pronouns and Ander uses He/They. To avoid confusion I will use she for her and he for him most of the time.

Shin recognizes the girl, more woman with age or not she can’t tell yet, the moment Mara starts up the mountain. The fact Miss. Stormwind made the trip at all was telling. Shin waiting for her inside readying a pot of tea to fight the cold mountain chill in her bones before the young mother descended the stairs childless.

The child was young, younger than most that came, that she could see. Most parents waited until the child was eight or ten. Six was very young to be given away.

“I owe you my life.” The girl lies with a faked smile. “It’s customary to give a child up to monks to pay back for such a thing, yes?”

It is, but Shin knows deceit. They can see it curling around this young mother in way over her head. She’s here because the child burdens her.

“Let me see them.” Shin states. She won’t lose her head to emotion. She won’t be angry with this wretch for throwing a child away like an unwanted toy. She trained to be better than that.

The little one steps out from behind his mother. His light blonde hair obscures watering green eyes. He softly hiccups as he cries silently.

“Don’t be sad, Ander.” The mother says cheerfully. “You’re going on an adventure!”

Ander just sniffles loudly in reply and looks to the floor.

The child is still quiet that evening, but Shin can see he has found interest in something.

“What do you have in your hand?”

The break in silence startles the child and he drops a little figure made of mud and straw. He starts crying again as she takes the doll into her hand. It smudges on her fingers. “This won’t do.” She says and he cries a little louder.

Her long spindly fingers dance around the locks on her simple old armoire. Inside lay her old possessions. She shifts old wooden swords out of the way to reach the back.

The child was still sobbing into his small hands when she returned to the small table at the monastery’s entrance.

Shin kneeled in front of him, her robes pooling around her, and held out her old fabric doll between her fingertips. “This one will not break into dirt and make a mess of your clothes.” She says gently.

He smiles so brightly that Shin is reminded of the sun for a moment before he gently takes the doll from her.

She slowly stands and extends a hand. “Come. You must settle into your room.”

He takes her hand and their steps echo across the marble cavern.

Shin had never thought of raising a child. But maybe, at the age of twenty-nine, she was the one going on an adventure.


	2. Easy Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my friend who knows things about kids actually and gave me some ideas for things kids do wrong at this age.

Today was an easy day. She did not force the child awake at the break of dawn. She did however make him quit his bed at six and, even though he went to sleep early, he sat rubbing his eyes and yawning at the table.

Once she placed a bowl of porridge in front of him he looked sad, moving his spoon around in it, but not taking a single bit. Taking the small pot off the table she opened it to place a spoon of sugar on his breakfast before adding an even smaller one to hers. She slowly mixed her meal and her ‘student’ eagerly copied her.

“Oops.”

Maybe a little- too eagerly. He looked up at her and she couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “’A moment of patience can prevent a great disaster, and a moment of impatience can ruin a whole life.’” That was one her father always told her when she got angry. “Or more likely- a whole breakfast.” 

Ander giggled a little and she smiled at him.

He finally raised a steaming spoonful to his mouth only to drop the spoon as soon as his tongue touched it. “Ow!” He stuck his tongue out and flapped his hands.

Her brow creased. She should have known it was too hot for him.

He watched as she took his spoon and brought it to her lips. She gently blew on it before holding it in front of his mouth. He ate it, smacking loudly, as she repeated the process.

“Remember to close your mouth.” She reprimanded lightly.

“Yes, ma’am.” He replied.

She froze for a moment before shaking it off. “Call me Master. I will be training you to be a monk. Therefor that is what you shall call me.”

“Yes Master!” He exclaimed throwing his arms up and knocking the sugar pot onto the ground.

It shattered and the boy looked down in surprise as if unaware the jar could do such a thing.

Shin took a deep breath and counted to ten.

Yes, it was an easy day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Shin. They have no idea what kind of patience they're going to have to summon even just dealing with a cinnamon roll like Ander.


	3. Spilt Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter has dragons

“Ander?” Shin called again for her pupil.

In such a big place there were so many spaces for the child to hide. After all the main part of the monastery only held the two of them. Ander did not yet know of the mountaintop nor how to reach it.

“Ander, where are you?” She was not too worried for now. She would find him. Her old masters would have told her if he was in danger.

“I’m here!” His voice bounced off the walls. She followed it to find Ander standing in front of a mirror, scissors in hand, and most of his once long hair surrounding him.

“Ander!” She scolded, forever mindful that her tone wasn’t too harsh since he was so young, “What have you done with yourself?”

He turned to her with a goofy grin. “I want to look like master!”

Shin sighed at that bringing a hand up to massage her temples. “I am honored, but you are too young to chose to have a shaven head-,” her eyes found her calligraphy set next to him, “or markings for that matter.”

“Oh.” He let out looking around his feet. “Can we stick it back on?”

She let out a laugh at that and picked him up, plucking the scissors from his tiny fist. “’Spilt water is hard to recover.’ You will just have to wait for yours to grow out again.”

She was starting to sound like her old masters. When she was young all the quotes did was confuse and anger her, but Ander smiled wide and his eyes glowed with curiosity every time she spoke one. 

Without hesitance or fear Ander reached a hand to the tattoos decorating her bare scalp. “When can I get marks?”

“When you have decided you are ready and you are right in thinking so.” She answered.

She started walking to the open courtyard carrying him not caring to put him down.

“When I’m ready, I want a dragon on my back!” He proclaimed.

She smiled at the irony.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I made it clear enough, but in case I didn't Mara is giving Ander up because he is not on the gender spectrum and she doesn't want that. That's why he was trying to hide his doll he made. He thought Shin would take it away like his mother did.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you would like me to explore a specific scenario, if you have questions about the characters, or if you just feel like it.


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